India‘s cricket board has declined to renew fast bowler Mohammad Shami‘s contract pending an investigation into “unsavoury” allegations that he cheated on his wife.

Shami, who represented India during the tour of South Africa in January, has dismissed the accusations of infidelity as “part of a big conspiracy” to defame him.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India dropped Shami from a list of contracted players unveiled Wednesday, which saw skipper Virat Kohli and other top Test players awarded salaries just above $1 million.

A supervisory committee overseeing BCCI affairs said the allegations against Shami put them in a difficult position and that his contract was on hold pending review.

“We are in a bit of Catch 22,” Vinod Rai, chairman of the committee, told cricket website ESPNcricinfo.

The new grades, announced by the court appointed Committee of Adminstrators (CoA) of the BCCI, will be effective for the period ranging from October 2017 to September 2018.

What is interesting to note is that senior pacer Mohammed Shami’s name does not feature in the list of the contract awardees released by the BCCI on its website. This may have something to do with some recent allegations surfacing against him.

The Indian cricket board unveiled a new central contract system on Wednesday and gave the clearest possible signal of the value it accords to limited overs and Test cricket specialists, with white-ball stars placed in the highest grade.

The overall value of central contracts has risen substantially. Earlier, the highest grade (A) was worth rupees 20 million ($300,000) but now the second highest grade (A) alone carries a retainer of rupees 50 million ($770,000).

Most of India’s Test specialists now find themselves in the new A category. It includes Test spinners Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja and batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay.

For Ashwin, Jadeja, Pujara and Vijay, their contract value has more than doubled from 20 to 50 million rupees. But as a share of the contract pie, they find themselves way behind Rohit and Dhawan, whose contract value has jumped from rupees 10 and five million respectively to 70 million rupees.

In simple terms, top Test specialists in India will now earn less than the best limited overs players. It’s a clear departure from the earlier thought-process of rewarding Test players with substantial central contracts to close the gap with players who play limited overs cricket and get big IPL contracts.

Also, wicketkeeper batsman MS Dhoni finds himself in the second highest A Grade, reflecting his reduced influence in the Indian team after Test retirement.

Earlier, the BCCI handed out Grade A, B and C category contracts which carried a retainer of rupees 20, 10 and five million respectively.